Otto a



(NoModelJ O. .MOSES.

RIG. No. 605,567. Patented June 14, 1898.

WITNESSES: I INVENTOR U T D STAT S;

PATENT OF ICE.

Lorre A. Mosns, on NEW YORK, N. YQ'

FABRIC) sPncIFIcArIon r'o in part of Letters Patent No. 605,567, dated June 14, 1898.

\ .Appiicmimi' filed Au'g usge, 1597 SerialNo. 647,021. (No specimens.)

To all whom Z'Z'LJH/Q/Z/ concern: I V Be it known that I, OTTO A. MOSES, a-citizenl of the United States, and a' resident of' -New' York, in the county of New York and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and; useful Improvementsin Fabrics, of which the? following is a specification.

My invention, while capable of application in connection with various forms of fabric, has reference more particularly to that form thereof which is made use of in the manufacture of undergarments and other similar articles. The requirements. necessary to a perfeet fabric of this class are, first, warmth, and, second, a capability to absorb and carry away from the surface of the body of the wearer the moisture that exudes therefrom in the form of perspiration. To meet the first of these requirements, soft wool has usually been employed. This material, however,while afiording the maximum degree of warmth, has been found more or less objectionable in practice, principally because of its high degree of elasticity, its shrinkage, its great cost, and its lack of the requisite degreeof absorbent qualities. To obviate these several objections, while at the same time retainingthe heat-non-conducting qualities of the wool, it has. been the custom to combine with such material, either in the yarn or otherwise,-silk,vcotton, orlother materials. The several: materials. thus employed, however, while' serving either to strengthen the fabric and restrain its elastic capabilities within the required limits, as is the case with the first, or reduce the cost of the fabric, as is the case with the second, have, like the wool itself, not possessed absorbent capability to the requisite degree, and even if they had their disposition within the fabric have not been such as to enable them to carry away from the inner to the outer side thereof the moisture taken up by the former. With a view to overcoming the objections incident to the use of these materials in connection with thewool in themanner above pointed out and to meeting the second of the beforementioned requirements it has been essayed to manufacture thefabrie wholly of cotton or f capability possessed, by it 'is so small that when the moisture given off from the body by perspiration is'at all profuse only a small pereentageofit is taken up upon the inner side -of the.-fabric,-the remainder being-left in a puddle, so to speak, upon'the surface to flow down along the same or dry at the place where exuded, as is the case with wool. With the second of these, on the other hand, the maximum degree of absorption has been attained, and the moisture taken up by the inner side of the fabric has been readily carried through its body to the outer side, where it has been either dissipated by the layer of air between the inner and outer garments or else conveyed directly to the outer garment and carried away by it. With the linen, however, as with the cotton, the requisite degree of warmth has been found wanting, and for this andother reasons it has not been generally adopted. To obviate, therefore, the objections incident to the use of wool and the other materials mentioned, either alone or under the arrangement above pointed out in the manufacture of fabrics of the class mentioned and at the same time produce a fabric which shall possess the maximum degree of warmth and capability of absorption with a minimum degree of cost, are the objects of my invention. '-.To these ends the. invention consists in a .fabric which is'composed of wool and an absorbent-material, thelatter being so incorporated withtheformer that in thecompleted fabric it extends from the interior to the exterior thereof through the same, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form ,a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a rear View of one form of fabric manufactured in accordance with'my invention, and Fig. 2 a similar view of aslightlymodified form thereof.

In the drawings I have shown my invention as applied in connection with'a knitted fabric but I do not limit its application thereto, as it is obvious that it may be applied in connection with woven fabrics with equal advantage and efficiency. a

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, a indicates the woolen yarns,

and b the linen yarns, which are interknitted to form a plain fabric, with the respective yarns extending through the same from the back to the front thereof.

lVith the fabric shown in Fig. 1 the woolen and linen yarns are so interknitted that the longitudinal rows of loops, or what are known in the art as wales, of the linen yarn c are alternated with the longitudinal rows of loops or wales of the woolen yarn (1, whereby the two appear upon the front of the fabric in alternate stripes extending longitudinally of the same throughout its length,with the yarns connecting the loops of the adjacent rows or wales of each extending across the backs of the intermediate rows or wales of the other in the form of floats, as shown at e. \Vith the fabric shown in Fig. 2, on the other hand, the transverse rows or courses of loops instead of being composed of alternate rows of the linen and woolen yarns, as in Fig. 1, are severally composed of loops of yarn of the same material, with the yarns composing the successive transverse rows or courses of loops alternated with one another, whereby one of suchrows orcourses-as, for instance, fill be composed of woolen yarn, the next row or course of loops g will be composed of linen yarn interlocked with the first, the next, f, of woolen yarn, interlooped with the second,and so on, each transverse row or course of woolen loops being followed by a transverse row or course of loops of linen yarn and each transverse row or course of linen loops in turn being likewise followed by a transverse row or course of woolen loops in alternation. In both of these forms of fabric, however, the

two yarns appear upon both sides thereof and pass from the one to the other through the body of the same, whereby, in addition to affording the requisite degree of warmth and bringing the wool in contact with the skin of the wearer, the moisture given off by him in the form of perspiration is taken up by the linen and carried through the fabric to its outer side, where it is either dissipated by the layer of air between the under and the outer garments or else transferred to such outer garment to be carried away thereby.

For manufacturing either of the fabrics shown in the drawings the form of knittingmachine shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 160,685, of March 9, 1875, equipped with appropriate knitting and presser wheels, may be employed and either of the fabrics produced thereon by the usual operations of such machines.

The fabric as thus far described is a smooth plain fabric that is designed more especially for undergarmentssuch, for instance, as undershirts and drawers. I propose, however,

in some instances to knit it in the form of a double-ribbed fabric, which shall be suitable for sweaters and other like articles, by feeding the same yarn to both sets of needles of a double-rib-knitting machine and using for such yarn a woolen one at one course and a linen one at the next, and so on in alternation, whereby in the completed fabric these alternate rows or courses of loops of woolen and linen yarn shall appear on both faces thereof as alternate stripes extending transversely of the fabric and passing through the same from one face to the other.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I produce a fabric which not only affords the requisite degree of warmth and action upon the skin of the wearer, but one which possesses the capability of taking up and carrying away moisture in the highest degree,the first two of these characteristics being accomplished by the presence of the wool and the last by the presence of the linen, which possesses absorbent capabilities to the maximum.

Although in the foregoing I have described what I consider the best embodiment of my invention, I wish it distinctly understood that I do not limit myself thereto, sinccit is obvious that I may modify the same in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof-as, for instance, instead of employing linen as one of its constituents I may, if I so desire, make use of other materials that possess absorbent qualities to the requisite degree. Again, instead of knitting every other course or wale of woolen yarn and every other alternate course or wale of linen I may, if I so desire, knit two or more courses or wales of woolen yarn and then follow these latter courses or wales by two or more courses or wales of woolen yarn, and so on, or otherwise alternate them, as may be preferred.

Having now described my invention and specified certain of the ways in which it is or may be carried into effect, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. A fabric composed of wool and an absorbent material which are so disposed with respect to each other that both extend from one face of the fabric to the other and present a contacting surface on each face composed of separate portions of wool and of the absorbent material, substantially as described.

2. A fabric com posed of wool and linen yarn which are so interlocked that both extend from one face of the fabric to the other and present a contacting surface on each face thereof that is composed of separate portions of wool and of linen, substantially as described.

3. A knitted fabric composed of wool and linen yarns which are so interknitted that both extend from one face of the fabric to the other and present a contacting surface on each face thereof that is composed of separate portions of wool and linen, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of July, 1807.

OTTO A. MOSIE.

IVitnesses:

WM..II. APPLEToN, WM. 0. I'IAUFF. 

